Language test, airplane tickets, taxes

Signs that I'm leaving here soon. Departure seems to be the big theme of my life, as I bid farewell to friends who have left just now (I think I've taken on some of the Gambian sense of time, meaning that "now" means the time from the recent past into the near future, with those recent and near adjectives being extremely flexible), and prepare for what's next.

And even though I'd have to deal with my yearly IRS burden if I weren't leaving, somehow it reminds me of the awful relative complexity of life in the US, as compared to this life here. And, all of my efforts of late have been down here in Kombo, which is not the simple thing that life in Fara Fenni is. Hrmmm...

I have put up a couple of pictures, and intend to put up a few more just as soon as I remember to bring my flash drive with me. I'm a forgetful geek today.

The language test consisted of a half hour conversation in Mandinka with one of the instructors and a tape recorder. Sort of fun, except for the ongoing voice in the back of my head saying that I should be serious and all that as it was my final evaluation. But, it's there, completed and on record. If I'm happy with my score, maybe I'll report it. So that all future employers can know of my precise proficiency in a language of which they've never heard.